Fort Worth Police Officer Investigated After Allegedly Pepper-Spraying Bikers
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FORT WORTH (CBS11) - The Fort Worth motorcyclist doesn't want to show his face or give his name, but he says he's among the bikers in a video posted on Facebook, as a Fort Worth police officer is seen spraying pepper spray as they pass by.
It happened along U-S 287 near I-35W north Sunday afternoon. "I think the officer was completely out of line," the biker says.
He says he was hit by the spray. "I smelled a peppery, burning sensation in my nose and I sneezed like two times."
He says other bikers complained of red eyes and nausea.
The motorcyclist says he contacted Fort Worth Police.
"I don't know if he's a rookie. I don't know if he's having a bad day, but I know if I were to go on a highway and spray mace onto the left lane next to me, I'd be in jail with a high misdemeanor or a felony," he says.
Fort Worth police identify the officer as W. Figueroa, a six-year veteran.
He's been removed from uniformed patrol and is now on administrative duty pending the investigation.
Police say they have video from the officer's body camera and his car's dashboard camera.
On Facebook, some came to the officer's defense, saying some motorcyclists were doing stunts on the highway and taunting the officer.
But G.M. Cox, who's been a police chief at four Texas cities including Murphy and Corsicana and is now at Tarleton State University in Fort Worth, says the video is troubling.
"I don't see anything in there that would justify the officer jumping out of a car and using the spray to have motorcyclists drive through it. They weren't assaulting him at the time," says Cox.
The motorcyclist now cooperating with authorities insists, "Those of us who were sprayed were not wheeling, were not doing stunts, we were in the back of the pack in fact kind of observing everything and we got sprayed."
Cox says Officer Figueroa could face criminal charges, but for now, Fort Worth Police says their case remains an administrative investigation.
A department spokeswoman says they take any complaints of officer misconduct very seriously.
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